Folk’s Folly
Birthdays are special around the Squirrel Nest, mainly because they are a perfect excuse to go out for a nicer-than-average meal. Granddaddy Squirrel provided us with our most recent excuse. This one had to be something special. After all, it’s not everyday that your father turns 60. We thought long and hard about where to go for this one, and we finally decided on an old classic (just like Granddaddy Squirrel).
In Memphis, Folk’s Folly is one of those restaurants that everyone knows about, but that’s most assuredly not a restaurant that everyone goes to on a regular basis. Papa Squirrel and I have both always wanted to try it, but we’ve either been drawn more to somewhere new and exciting or it’s just been out of our budget. Well, if ever there was a time for Folk’s Folly, this had to be it.
We gathered the clan and headed out to dinner. The restaurant has great atmosphere, and was a very pleasant place to eat and talk. We started with a trio of appetizers for the table. The catfish beignets were delicious bites of breaded catfish that melted in the mouth with a nice house-made tartar sauce. The Folly’s Tidbits were delicious bites of battered and deep-fried steak with Béarnaise sauce. The table favorite, though, was the bleu cheese mountain. This was a mound of homemade potato chips topped with creamy melted bleu cheese and scallions. We were off to a wonderful start.
Papa Squirrel and I succumbed to the lure of soup. He tried the rich and creamy she-crab soup. I couldn’t resist the lure of the soup of the day, acorn squash. Even Teh Boy liked the acorn squash soup. He ate as much of it as I did.
On to the entrees. Our guest of honor chose the New York Strip with a baked potato. Nana Squirrel went for the petite filet mignon with a baked potato. Sorta Sister Squirrel decided on the Maker’s Mark medallions with a side of leek and garlic mashed potatoes. J Squirrel had the filet mignon with mushroom topping and the mashed potatoes. Squirrelly, Jr., settled on the New York strip with bleu cheese and the mashed potatoes. Of course, Papa Squirrel and I were the rebels of the bunch. Papa chose one of the weekly specials, buffalo steak with stewed sweet potatoes and a side order of asparagus with Hollandaise. I decided on the duck breast with port wine sauce, artichoke bottoms with Bearnaise, and Lyonnaise potatoes (basically, fancy home fries). Our table was groaning under the feast.
Overall, everything was delicious. There were a few minor missteps, though. SSS ordered her steak medium-well and got medium-rare. She didn’t mind so much since the light was low enough that she couldn’t see red, but even so, we had expected better. Also, from our list, you can see that there were a lot of mashed potatoes ordered. Our waiter could have warned us that these were family sized side orders instead of individual so that we could have tasted a broader spectrum of their offerings.
Dessert was delicious. Granddaddy and Nana Squirrel shared a slice of pecan pie. The rest of us shared a couple of the tasty offerings from the menu. We had the hot chocolate fudge brownie and the bread pudding with Irish whiskey sauce. I also ordered a Chambord parfait. We were all perfectly content and well-stocked with leftovers to take home.
Maybe Folk’s Folly isn’t an everyday excursion, but we’ll definitely be back before too long.
Folk’s Folly
551 S. Mendenhall Road
Memphis, Tennessee 38117
(800) 467-0245
(901) 762-8200